We are told that such veils are still worn in the Phoenician country.[7105] An inscription, in a late form of the Phoenician character, surrounds the two figures, and is read as {...} or _l'Akhot-melek ishat Joshua( ?)_--i.e."(the seal) of Akhot-melek, wife of Joshua."[7106] No.
4 contains the figure of a lion, cut with much spirit.MM.Perrot et Chipiez say of it--"Among the numerous representations of lions that have been discovered in Phoenicia, there is none which can be placed on a par with that on the scarab bearing the name of 'Ashenel: small as it is, this lion has something of the physiognomy of those magnificent ones which we have borrowed from the bas-reliefs of the Assyrians.

Still, the intaglio is in other respects decidedly Phoenician and not Assyrian.
Observe, for instance, the beetle with the wings expanded, which fills up the lower part of the field; this is a _motive_ borrowed from Egypt, which a Ninevite lapidary would certainly not have put in such a place."[7107] The Phoenician inscription takes away all doubt as to the nationality.

It reads as {...}, or _'Ashenel_, and no doubt designates the owner.No.5 is beautifully engraved on a chalcedony.

It represents a stag attacked by a griffin, which has jumped suddenly on its back.

The drawing is excellent, both of the real and of the imaginary animal, and leaves nothing to be desired.